The COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) and its Field Studies Working Party have recently developed a standardized list of core data elements that must be integrated into surveys conducted by CITF-funded groups across Canada studying issues related to COVID-19 immunity.
Questions asked by Statistics Canada and other surveys used by national organizations formed the basis for the core data elements document, which aims to encourage groups to acquire and record survey data in a standardized manner.
Specifically, the core data elements include questions and responses related to COVID-19 status, COVID-19 symptoms, quality of housing, risk factors, risk acquisitions, and health behaviour changes related to the virus as well as other areas of inquiry. The purpose of this list of core data elements is to ensure that gathered data is both useful on its own and is directly comparable between different COVID-19 studies and initiatives across Canada.
CITF encourages the Canadian community of academic researchers, public health leaders, and staff in national health agencies to use this list to inform the development of new surveys or the revision of existing surveys.
Click on the following links to download the list of core survey data elements in English (Word|PDF) or in French (Word|PDF).
About the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force
The Government of Canada launched the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force in late April 2020 to measure the scope of coronavirus infection in Canada and rapidly provide information to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and safely get Canadians back to work. The Task Force has the mission of ensuring that at least one million Canadian blood samples are collected and tested over the next two years to track the spread of the virus in the general population and shed light on immune responses to it in a diversity of communities, settings, age brackets, and occupational groups across the nation. For more information visit: www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca